Data Assurance Intern Review

The atmosphere in the office was very relaxed and friendly and the people really make the firm. As a group the interns met up frequently, both at lunchtimes and after work and it was great to get to meet this group of people. I didn't find the work I was doing very challenging and so I didn't enjoy it so much, however it was given plenty of opportunities during the placement to shadow senior staff and meet with people from other lines of service within the firm and this was very interesting. Overall the internship was enjoyable and I highly reccomend it, especially for anyone who is more interested in financial services than I am!

My colleagues made me feel involved from day one, they were friendly and apporachable and whenever I had a question they would help me as sson as they could, which was pretty quick! They gave me a variety of work and were happy to let me have a go at anything, guiding me through each new project. My buddy put a lot of time into organising different activities for me so that I could get as much out of my time there as possible and introduced me to different people so that I really felt a part of the team.

The first week of the internship was all training and induction; this involved a three day, all expenses paid stay at a hotel followed by a two day office induction with the other interns based at the same office. This really made me feel valued and supported by the firm and was a great way to get into the internship. For the rest of the time each intern had a people manager and a buddy, most of which were in the same line of service. My buddy spent a lot of time with me, initially giving me coaching on how to use the software and then helping me out whenever I had any kind of issue or question. She organised for me to shadow senior staff, including a day shadowing in London, and also spend a week in a different section of our department so I could get a better feel for what the department does as a whole. I didn't see as much of my poeple manager; she met with me in my second week to help me put together some objectives for the internship however after that she was on holiday a lot and so I couldn't get in touch with her. Although this was slightly annoying it didn't make thatmuch of a difference to me as I had such a good buddy to look after me and I could go to pretty much anyone in my team for help.

Some days I had a lot of work to do and so I was kept busy all day. Different people in the team would apporach me with work, from associates to managers and so I got a variety of work. Other days I struggled to find work to do, although I asked around for jobs at times there was nothing in for me to do or we had to wait for a large amount of time to get access to client data befoe I could start on anything. In these times there was other things I could do towards my internship; every intern had to complete training e-learns, these were like powerpoints with some interactivity about subjects such as diversity, risk and fraud, and open mindedness, we also had to complete self assessments, submit feedback requests, and there was a Dragon's Den style competition set up which everyone could take part in. All of this meant that for the majority of time, even if there wasn't work to do, there was something to keep us busy.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility in my work, after training I was allowed to do the work independently and colleagues would only check in on me to make sure I knew what I was doing or needed any help. The work I was completing was put towards audit projects and so it felt like I was doing something useful rather than just being around to do coffee runs and print jobs like some other internships might involve (I never had to do any of this). People in the team also let me help with a variety of work.

In terms of the actual work I was completing I cannot see how this would benefit me unless I were to take a graduate job in the role. However, working within a team for the six weeks and having to communicate with not only peers but senior staff also was very valuable and I think I have learnt a lot about working in a professional service. I was only with the firm for a short period of time so it's difficult to say how much I've learnt or developed in that time but I would say that the firm is very good at encouraging it's people to develop and so I think that if I were with the firm for a longer time I would learn lots of new skills that I could apply in other situations.

The atmosphere always seemed very relaxed and was generally a nice place to work. Mostly everyone is very friendly and apporachable which makes the office a veyr comfortable place to be. Poeple in the office organise lots of events outside of work; there are lots of sport teams to get involved with if that's your thing and there is a social on the last Friday of every month where everyone from the office is invited, including two free drinks and a free buffet every other month. It really was a nice place to work.

The internship was veyr organised. A lot of effort was put into training the first week, organising for tutors from each department to take sessions with interns in those departments so that everyone went into the internship on almost a level footing. People managers and buddies were organised beforehand and inthe most part they got in touch the week before the internship to answer any questions. There were weekly WebEx's recorded for us to watch to give us information that they felt was important for that week and we were all provided with a laptop at training.

The organisation puts a lot of effort into it's employees and really looks after them and so I would say for anyone that is interested in financial services it is a great place to be, on top of the fact that they are the leading financial services firm globally! The firm puts it's employees through the ACA and supports them through the whole process. Everyone also progresses within the firm quite quickly, naturally going up a grade each year with a pay rise as well. For me personally the work did not suit me however I know that the other interns in my office really enjoyed their work and planned form the start to accept a grad offer if they got one at the end of the internship.

The first week of the internship was great way to meet other interns. Training for the first three days was with interns from the same line of service but different offices and then for the last two days the induction was with interns in the same office. After this everyone that was office based met up for lunch every day and we met up after work quite a few times so that we could socialise with those that weren't office based as well. The office socials also gave a great way to socialise outside of work and each department has an away day each year where they do something that isn't work related.

Being in Birmingham the cost of living was reasonable. A day saver for the bus is £4.20 each day or a train is about £3.00 return to the city centre. Food is normal cost for other areas, e.g. a meal deal is about £3.00, a restaurant meal about £10.00. Pub prices depend on where you go, some coacktail bars will be aroun £5.00, a pint about £3.00, although if you're a fan of Wetherspoons this could be around £2. Rental costs vary depending on the area, if you rent in the city centre this will obviously be more expensive than going further out however saves on travle costs and is a vibrant place to live,

Nightlife is really good in Birmingham. There is a lot of choice of clubs, pubs, and bars for you to go to and they're all quite close to each other so if you want to move from one bar to another you can do very easily. Broad Street is very busy, it can be quite expensive on a Saturday night and there tends to be a lot of chavs about. Arcadia is always a good choice, with lots of bars, clubs, a dn restaurants close by. Brindley Place is a nice place to spend an evening, with cocktail bars overlooking the canals and music on a Saturday night, it can be a great option to start your night before moving on to a club.

There was lots of activities to get involved with outside of work. There are a large amount of sports teams including football, rugby, and netball, although netball doesn't run over the summer. There are also monthly socials on the last Friday of every month where everyone from the office is invited and gets two free drinks vouchers and a free buffet every other month...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................